The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has said that lockdown measures will increase poverty levels among workers in the informal sector in lower-income countries by as much as 56 percentage points.

In high-income countries, relative poverty levels among informal workers are estimated to increase by 52 percentage points, while in upper middle-income countries the increase is estimated to be 21 percentage points.

The ILO in its recently issued briefing paper said that "as many as 1.6 billion of the world’s two billion informal economy workers are affected by lockdown and containment measures. Most are working in the hardest-hit sectors or in small units more vulnerable to shocks".